The Last 2 Phillies Questions For 2010 (Jan 8)

January 8, 2010   ·   philliesmania   ·   Jump to comments

 

PHILLIES 2010!

Okay so PHILLIES.com offered up 10 questions for 2010 and we covered 8 of them. So let’s finish with the last 2!

 

Question 2:

How good will Placido Polanco be at third base?

 

Honestly I think he will be very good.

 

Yes Pedro Feliz was and still is a top flight 3rd baseman. His glove is deadly and his accuracy throwing the ball was not overlooked. Mike Schmidt himself has said that Feliz has one of the best throws to first from 3rd.

 

There in lies the secret to Polanco succeeding at 3rd. He is a Gold Glove winner at 2nd so fielding a ball is not a problem. True 3rd base is called the hot corner because of the occasional bullet that comes down the 3rd base line. But that is unpredictable. The real test will be whether he can make the throw. Yes most great fielders that can’t cut it at 3rd is because of the throw.

 

Reports say he has a strong arm so the question will be his accuracy. I believe he will be fine and we won’t skip a beat at 3rd. He has played enough there that even he is not worried about it.

 

And even if he is Pedro Feliz light at 3rd he will not be a detriment. He is better than David Bell or Abraham Nunez!

 

Most of all he can hit and he is does not strike out. This line up needs a contact guy.

 

Question 1:

Is the team better?

 

Clearly they are a better team heading into the season compared to previous seasons. But there are still some concerns.

 

In previous years the rotation started with Brett Myers at the top of the rotation. Of course you had Hamels coming on. 2008 had Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick were in the rotation, as was Adam Eaton in the mix. 2009 you started with Myers, Hamels, Moyer, Blanton but Chan Ho Park was in the rotation. Yes we ended the year with Lee in the rotation but that is not the big picture.

 

Starting with Halladay, Hamels, Happ, Blanton, and ? is already better of pitching staff to start a season then prior years. The bullpen is certainly no worse on paper but clearly has the most unanswered questions. Performance will answer that.

 

Now you have compare the bench players. Yes, performance here is also going to be the final determining factor. But I like the bench more this year than I did in the last few years. Dobbs had a huge 2008 but you had to roll the dice with Stairs by years end to help the bench. Jenkins was a bust and Bruntlett had bailed you out in the early part of the year but he wasn’t anything to brag about off the bench. Although he did much more for you in 2008 then in 2009 for sure. As was the case with Stairs.

 

Now you have reserves/bench players like Ben Francisco, Ross Gload, Brian Schneider, Juan Castro, and hopefully a healthier Dobbs. Guys like John Mayberry Jr may help also. Defensively that is much, much better. At the plate? That remains to be seen. But frankly other then the great year Dobbs had in 2008, you haven’t been getting anything at the plate off the bench.

 

Based on track record, Castro has done well in pinch hitting as has Schneider.  We know a healthy Dobbs has the potential. Gload has done well off the bench also. Francisco is a potential starter in this league. Mayberry has had some key pinch hits but he needs more experience and a history to say if he is a good bench player.

 

In the end, this roster is better already and they still might have a couple more moves up there red and white pinstriped sleeve!